Ball-bearing gear.



F. NEUBAUER.

BALL BEARING GEAR.

n APPLICATION FILED AHL-20, 1914. I 1,164,847. Patented 1160.21, 1915.y

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F. NEUBAUER. BALL BEARING GEAR.

APPLHIATION4 FILED APR. 20, 1014.

Patented Dec. 21', 1915.

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- UITED sTATEs PATENT oEEToE.

iFEEDINANIJ NEUBAUER, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

' BALL-BEARING GEAR.

To all who/m, z't may concern Be it known that I, FERDINAND NEU- BAUER,citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland,in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented :certain ynew and usefulImprovements in Ball-Bearing Gears, of which thefollowing is aspecification. i

This invention relates to ball bearing gears, and the invention as shownherein embraces an annular gearwheel with ball bearings in .its meshingportions and a worm gear in mesh `therewith through the exposed balls insaid bearings, all substantially as shown and described and particularlyipointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheeladapted to be fixed on a shaft and having an incased ballbearing gearmember and a worm meshed therewith, and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationof said parts on line 2-2, Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a cross sectionv of a portion of the said wheel showing therelations' of the balls thereto. Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross I'sectionof the two intermeshing members, all as hereinafter fully described.Fig. 5, Sheet 2, shows-a detail of one of the outer plates of the wheelby which the balls are confined in their races, and Fig. 6 is a crosssection thereof. Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of the worm member proper,and Fig. 8 is an end view thereof. Fig. 9 is a plan view of a section ofthe wheel. Fig. 10 is a plan of one of the plates conning the balls onor in the said wheel. and Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation of one of theside plates and a convex ball confining plate attached thereto andservin as seen in the several plates of this kind s own in Fig. 9.

As thus shown, the invention is designed and adapted to reduce frictionto the minimum in worm gear connections, and to this end I employ acircular gear wheel A and a worm shaft B .with a worm 2 thereon in meshwith an'tifriction ball bearings or balls 4 mounted andconfned in theperiphery of said wheel A substantially as seen in several views. y

The said wheel has a body indicated by b, made in a single piece ofcasting and provided with a hub h to 'engage on a 'shaft and a concaveperiphery having transverse ball races or channels as seen at 5successively about the same, the said races or channels being of a depthsay about as'seen in Fig. 4

Bpecication of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 21, 1915, v f Applicationtiled April 20, 1914. Serial No. 838,299.

said body and is convex in cross section on its inner` sidecorresponding to the transverse curvature of the said body and the ribs8 thereon and has a flat outer side forming a seat for the lsecond bandd, fitting closely thereon. This latter band "i's heavier than the band6 and is concave in cross section and has ball channels 7 across itsoutside surfaces corresponding in lateral pitch or inclination to theWorm 2 andthe ball channels in the body b, and ribs 9 .separate the saidchannels or races 7 in the said outer band d, but the said ribs 9 are,alternate with. two transverse channels or races 7 instead of one forevery race as in body b, and the said races or channels 7 come on eachside of the ribs 9 at the base thereof and the balls therein are coveredor overlapped for the most part and confined by means of curvedtransverse plates 10 aiixed by screws to or upon said ribs 9 andoverlapping two transverse .races and balls at the sides thereof.However, the said balls are exposed at the sides of said channelsoutside the edges of said plates 10 relatively as seen in Fig. 4, so asto provide engagement for the worm. The said plates 10 are curvedlengthwise and serve to confine the balls while the balls themselves arein bearing contact with the worm 2 at the edges thereof.

The side plates C on the body of the wheel, Figs. 5 and 6, are curvedinwardly at their outer' edges to more or less overlap the balls 4 wherethey enter from within the sides of'said plates into the transversechannels in outer band d, and the plates 10 are 4secured at their endsto the outer edges of these plates as well as to the ribs 9,` Fig. 4.The said side plates C are also secured to the body b by screws and tothe outer rim d by screws 12.

The balls may be only on one side of the ribs or single instead ofdouble as shown, but the double arrangement is preferred.

It will be understood that the ribs 9 on band d really extend across theedges thereof so as to direct the balls into workin relation with thechannels in the body Of course the wheel as a whole comprises all theessential working partsv or portions thereof as seen in Figs. 2 and3,'but its immediate bearing portion consists more especially in the rimd aiiixed thereto through the side plates c and having ribs 9 engaged bythe balls 4.A

The outer band d might be made with the band 6 as an integral portionthereof if the body were in two sections to get it in place, but in thepresent construction said inner band o-r ring is sectional and band d isplaced in position from the side of the wheel 'and locked in place,vthus also holding band 6.

-`What I`claim is: l1. A worm gearmechani'sm comprising a gear wheelhaving a concave periphery andball races at an inclination to a directtransverse line in said concave portion, an encirl 3; A wheel having ayseries of endless ball A races transversely thereof,`balls in said racesand external plates partially overlapping eac separate race of balls toconfine the same in the races.

4. A wheel having a series of ball races formed transversely in itsperiphery Yand ribs between said races spacin the^'same apart, the outerportions of sai races and ribs being concave in cross section of thewheel, and balls exposed therein, in combinationwith a worm in Workingengagement with said balls.

5. A wheel as described having ay body with a circumferential channeltherein, a

lband in said channel and said parts together constructed with aseriesof b all races substantially transversely thereof and ribs intermediateSaid channels and alterna-ting therewith, and the said races deepest attheir center and highest at their outer edge in they periphery of thewheel and balls in said races exposed atthe ends of said plates forContact vby an engaging member.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' FERDINAND NEUBAUER. Witnesses: l

R. B. MOSER,

B. C. TAYLOR.

